Case Number 00526

ALONE

The Charge

Quiet. Blessed, blessed, blessed quiet.

Opening Statement

From Oscar winning screenwriter Horton Foote (The Trip to Bountiful,
Tender Mercies, To Kill a Mockingbird), comes the story of John
Webb (Hume Cronyn), a farmer in the twilight of his years. Still reeling from
the death of his wife of 52 years, Webb is also trying to keep his head above
water with his finances. Having to take out a loan from the bank to pay for
taxes, he wonders how many seasons as a farmer he has left in him.

His daughters long married and moved away, Webb's last remaining friend,
Grey (James Earl Jones), is getting ready to move to Houston to live with one of
his children. Webb's only remaining family are his nephews Gus, Jr. (Chris
Cooper) and Carl (Frederic Forrest) and their families. Family that has very
little time for their "rich" Uncle John.

This all changes when an oil company comes asking around for the right to
drill on John Webb's land. With Gus and Carl still owning half of the mineral
rights of the land from when their father owned part of John's farm, the promise
of big oil money starts tongues a wagging. With the prospect of easy cash on the
horizon, greed rears its ugly face causing friends and family members to bicker
and fight.

The Evidence

With Alone, Foote is aiming at a lot of targets. The death of the
American farm. Aging and outliving friends and loved ones. The point when the
parent becomes the child and needs to be cared for and looked after. Greed,
jealously and the way corporate America tries to manipulate the average citizen,
all in the name of profit and wealth. All worthy topics and subject matter Foote
tries to explore as best he can.

I have a lot of respect for Horton Foote. I cannot think of anyone out in
the landscape of popular media who deals so consistently with "real"
America and its people. A writer who is not content with flash and image, Foote
gets into the hearts and heads of hard working, imperfect people. When in full
stride, Foote is a writer with his hand on the pulse of our nation. Here he
nicely shows just how quickly our nation has changed. When once, not so long
ago, a farm could not only help feed a nation, it could also provide shelter and
a home for those who worked it. Now the open spaces are empty and alone, being
nothing more than a huge financial burden.

Powerful material with loads of dramatic potential.

Alone features some wonderful performances by old pros Cronyn
(Marvin's Room, The Pelican Brief, Cocoon), Jones (Clear
and Present Danger, The Lion King, Field Of Dreams) and one
not so old pro, Cooper (American Beauty, October Sky, Lone
Star). It also boasts some sturdy direction from Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who
conducts the proceedings in a quiet, strong manner. As a director he seems to
understand the tone of the piece and maintains respect and dignity for the
characters.

Originally presented on the Showtime cable network, Alone is brought
to DVD by WinStar. The film was shot in the 1.33:1, so the way the picture fills
up the screen is an accurate depiction of how the film was shot. As a transfer,
the image is passable. Colors and fleshtones are accurate and natural looking. I
could detect the barest amount of edge enhancement but it was nothing that was
really distracting. Nighttime sequences are solid with blacks and shadow showing
acceptable detail and clarity. The only real problem I had with the image was it
seemed the print was in less than perfect shape. Nothing too annoying, but there
were scratches and dirt present throughout the film.

Sound is also effective in what it does. In the Dolby 2 channel mix dialogue
is clear with almost everything coming out of the center speaker. With no
special effects the soundtrack does what it needs to do, although to be honest,
it sometimes sounded rather flat and dull.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Alone is not Horton Foote at his best. In his most successful projects
Foote has had a riveting performance from his lead performer to push his words
forward. While Cronyn is wonderful, he does not posses the magnetism actors such
as Robert Duvall did in Tender Mercies or Gregory Peck had in To Kill
a Mockingbird. Cronyn's character is a quiet, humble man and his performance
is just that. Also it does not help when so much of what Foote is writing about
here seems so forced, almost trite. I never found myself caring for anyone in
the film or their plight. Simple people, yes. But the writing came off that way
as well.

For as good as Cronyn, Jones and Cooper are, Frederic Forrest (The Two
Jakes, Hammett, Apocalypse Now) and Shelley Duvall (The
Shining, Roxanne, Time Bandits), as Forrest's wife, are just
plain bad. Their performances are so clichéd and broad that I found myself
embarrassed whenever they were onscreen.

I almost always cringe when I see the WinStar, formerly Fox Lorber, company
name on a DVD case. I know that I will be getting average picture and sound with
no extras. With the release of Alone, none of that has changed. I would
be just as well renting the VHS of this movie. Not even the most basic things
such as subtitles or an alternate language track are present. Is it really that
hard to do something, anything, even in the least way special for a film?

Closing Statement

While there are some nice performances and the occasional turn of phrase that
causes one to pause, there really is not much here to recommend. I suppose if
you are a fan of the author or of some of the actors it would make a decent
rental but otherwise there is little else present to write home about.

The Verdict

Horton Foote is given a warning and released because of past efforts but
WinStar is ordered to serve 5 to 10 for average, barebone releases. That is all
I have. Case dismissed.